


It Takes a Village

by Linneamful



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: A lot of divergence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Tsukishima Kei & Yamaguchi Tadashi Friendship, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, single dad, teen dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2019-11-29 06:41:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18219569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linneamful/pseuds/Linneamful
Summary: As he stared down at the little form nestled in his arms, Kei finally let himself relax. His daughter was kind of gross. She was often sticky and smelly and oozed many, many different liquids from varying parts of her body, and she was everything Kei had been certain he didn’t want. He liked structure, personal space,quiet- everything he had given up the moment he’d said, “Fine. Give her to me.”It had been harder than he’d expected; he never expected being a parent to be easy, but his mom made it look effortless. It wasn’t until he’d brought home this tiny, screaming baby and he’d looked completely lost that she’d told him how hard it had been and how much harder it would be for him, balancing school and volleyball and an infant.Kei hadn’t cried in years; after finding Akiteru’s secret, he’d sobbed his little, grade-schooler heart out, but he then swore he wouldn’t cry over anything so pathetic again. But when he’d finally gotten Suzume to sleep for the first time after she’d cried and cried for what felt like eternity, he wept - terrified, awed, in love tears - and he knew that the sticky, smelly, far too oozey little mess he’d brought home waseverythinghe could ever want.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Holy crap.
> 
> I can't quite believe I'm posting this. I'm always nervous about posting; I got out of the writing habit years ago and am just now edging my way back in. This one's been stewing in my Google Docs for months now, with the first few chapters written and me debating sending it out into the void. 
> 
> I'm not 100% certain where the idea came from, but it all kind of sparking in the thought/notion that Tsukishima's stress and anxiety at the summer training camp being more than just... Normal stress, I guess? 
> 
> Anywho, I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Goal is to update weekly, but may end up being biweekly.

“Tsukishima, _please_ ,” Hinata begged, bouncing up and down next to his taller classmate, each hop shifting just far enough forward to keep pace with the team’s giant. “Yachi’s sick, and Kageyama and I are going to fail, and then we’ll miss _another_ training camp, and-”

“It would only be for a little while, Tsukki,” a calm, pleasant voice chimed in from a few paces back. “We’re going to your house to study anyway, and it might actually help to have a couple extra brains in the room since you have baby duty tonight.”

Two voices responded in sync, one quiet and annoyed, the other loud and boisterous.

“You’re assuming they have brains.”

“BABY DUTY? You’re babysitting? _You?_ One look at your face and the kid will never stop crying. Now you really have to let me come-”

“No.” Tsukishima stopped, towering over the miniscule ginger with slightly angrier indifference than usual. “Stop sleeping in class; that’s all the studying advice you need.” 

“Okay, sorry! I’m sure kids love you,” Hinata backtracked. “It must be that- that-”

“If you’re going to try to suck up to someone, at least have a plan before you start talking.” At that Tsukishima turned back towards the road, his head held high and his lips turned ever-so-slightly downward. 

Hinata, however, was relentless, and he bounded forward, jogging slightly to keep up with the taller boy’s much longer paces. “Your height! Kids love being held up in the air, so I bet your height makes them feel like they’re flying!”

Behind them, Yamaguchi giggled slightly, and Kageyama sighed. “You dumbass, you’re making it worse.” Through gritted teeth, the raven-haired boy gritted his throat and began, “Tsukishima, will you please teach Hinata and I the content for our math exam in the morning?”

At that, the corners of Tsukishima’s lips twitched upward, and he glanced over his shoulder at his classmate. “What was that, your highness? I couldn’t hear you.”

Briefly, Hinata was reminded of a cartoon, in which the character’s face grew redder and redder, until eventually, steam poured from their ears and a train whistle echoed from the television speakers. If that were real life, the train would already have plowed down Tsukishima, if Kageyama’s glare had anything to do with it. “I said, will you _please_ teach Hinata and I the content for our math exam in the morning?”

“I guess even I can’t refuse the king,” the blonde answered sardonically, a smirk plastered on his otherwise apathetic face. 

Yamaguchi smiled, and he nodded to Kageyama. “We’re almost there. It won’t be so bad once we get going.”

“So there’s gonna be a baby?” Hinata interrupted again, his one track mind still very much looped around the idea of a tiny human. “I didn’t know you had siblings. Is it a little brother or sister? How old?”

“It’s a little monster.”

“She’s two months old,” his green-haired best friend supplied. “Her name’s Suzume, and she’s perfect.”

Kageyama mumbled something under his breath that sounded remarkably like, “Damn kids,” and Shouyou’s eyes became saucers. “So little! I can’t wait to see her!”

Tsukishima remained quiet, leading them through the small town’s streets and eventually up to the door of a well-kept home at the edge of a cul-de-sac. He cracked the door open slowly and bothered with exactly zero pleasantries before slipping off his shoes and traipsing up the small steps into the family room. 

“Oh Kei, I’m glad you’re home. I’m running late.” A short, mouse-haired woman came rushing through the entryway, her socks scuffling against carpet. Her blazer hung off one shoulder, the other sleeve flapping in the wind behind her as she dashed from room to room, every reemergence a new event. On her final pass-through, she glanced behind her son and smiled. “Hi Tadashi-kun; I’m glad you’re here, too. Kei, everything should be ready for you. She ate about an hour ago, and she’s napping in the bassinet in y- Hello.” 

In all of the flurry, her eyes had only just settled on the two strangers standing awkwardly against the front door; she tilted her head and glanced back to her blonde-haired boy. “I didn’t know we had more company. Come in, come in. I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were coming or I would have left something out. I can-”

“I can play host, ka-san,” Tadashi said warmly, smiling at his pseudo-mom. “I’ll make sure they’re taken care of and keep Tsukki from being too terrible.”

At that, Tsukishima grunted, but his mother laughed. “Thank you, Tadashi-kun. Be nice, Kei.” 

Then, in as much of a whirlwind as she had come, she was out the door. “Tsukki! Your mom is so _cool_. I would never have guessed she just had a baby, she’s so-”

Tsukishima’s lips had parted to stop Hinata’s tirade, but a quiet wail from down the hallway stopped both boys in their tracks. Hinata darted up the steps, eager to meet Karasuno’s future mascot, but Tsukishima was too quick. Hinata’s white tee crumpled in his hand, and the little crow’s footsteps yielded no forward movement. “No. Go get your books out.” 

“Come on, Hinata,” Yamaguchi said softly, kindly guiding the hyperactive teen towards the kitchen. “I’ll make tea, and you can start figuring out what you don’t know on the math exam tomorrow.”

“But that’s easy,” Hinata answered, gazing back over his shoulder at the now-empty hallway. “I don’t know any of it.”

\---------

 

Down the cream-carpeted hallway, Kei took a hard right, his gait lengthening slightly as he approached the source of the crying. His bedroom was uncharacteristically messy, with onesies and burp rags strewn about the usually immaculate hardwood flooring. His grey duvet was crumpled in a heap at the foot of his bed, and the corner of his mattress lay exposed with the fitted sheet pulled slightly towards the center of the bed. 

Mere inches from his mattress, a white bassinet trembled slightly, a tiny blonde princess wriggling unhappily in its confines. Without so much as a thought, the teen scooped up the infant and settled onto the edge of his bed, nestling her gently against his chest.

As if by magic, the little wails immediately ceased, but Kei still held her close, his torso swaying side to side in small, rhythmic motions. When he spoke, his tone was entirely different from the cold, grumpy Tsukishima that would re-emerge the moment he stepped back out the door. “I know what you’re up to,” he murmured softly, planting the lightest of kisses atop her small tufts of blonde hair. “You heard me come in, and I didn’t make it up here fast enough for you, so you started screaming because you knew I’d come running. You, little monster, have me wrapped around you little finger.”

He smiled a soft, warm smile as he shifted her, cradling her in his arms, still as surprised as ever to find his own eyes staring back up at him. Through soft plump cheeks and full pink lips, he could see his own pointed nose scrunch and wiggle and his arched eyebrows crease in tired frustration, reminding him again and again how much DNA was shared between them. 

“I see you getting mad again,” he laughed, flipping her again to let her look at the world. Her socked feet kicked excitedly, and the hint of a smile peaked out from her toothless gums. “There, better? I don’t know what you want to look at; you see this stuff every day, you know. You’ve got to get bored of it sometime.” 

As she kicked and chattered, he let out another small chuckle, then a sigh. All day, he’d looked forward to lounging on the couch in his sweats, watching his best friend’s newest anime obsession, and hanging out with Suzu for a few hours while he skimmed his textbooks. But alas, Tadashi’s kind heart- and his desperation to impress Yachi by helping her friends- had once again interfered, leading to the two dumbasses probably perched at his kitchen table at that very moment. “Alright, let’s go. I’m going to show you exactly what _not_ to be when you grow up.”

\---------

 

Tadashi’s grin dimmed mid-laugh as his best friend re-emerged from the hallway, the tot tucked tidily against his chest. His shoulders were tense, entirely unlike his usual at-home physique; his face was schooled into a carefully neutral expression, no hint of the gentle smile he had donned only moments before. 

Yamaguchi had only just begun to adjust to the new, softer side of Tsukki that Suzume had coaxed out of him with her arrival, but he could see very little of her results as the blonde glared at the table full of his fellow first years.

“Let me see!” the pumpkin-haired crow to his left all but yelled, jumping up and getting a bit closer to Tsukishima than was warranted. 

“Tch,” the blonde answered grumpily, carefully swiveling the infant away from Hinata. “Studying only. She stays over here.” 

At that, he gently lowered her onto the blanket already spread across the living room floor, settling her stomach-down against pink and grey fleece. The blonde allowed himself one small smile at the little form at his feet before steeling his expression and glaring back at the table behind him. 

“Tsukki's way better at math than I am,” Yamaguchi yammered, glancing down at his own sparse algebra notes. “He was at the top of our class in middle school, and not just in math. Tsukk is-”

The fair-skinned giant tsk-ed irritably as he settled at the table. “Shut up, Yamaguchi,” he groused, flipping open a pristine notebook. “What do you need to know?”

Tsukishima Kei was not a patient teacher. His eyes frequently slipped back to the infant half a room away, his tone condescending as he attempted to drag his fellow first years through the world of logarithms and exponent rules. 

“It’s too hard,” whined Hinata, his spiking palm emblazoning a bright red print on his forehead. “I'm never going to pass this test.”

“Probably not,” Tsukishima droned, his eyes darting back to the living room floor and the little human flailing about contentedly with a smattering of toys around her. “You can just leave if you want.”

“Not a chance.”

“Then quit whining and-”

It all happened in an instant - the faintest of fussing; a flurry of black, white and orange; a pale palm grasping at thin air; and a threatening hiss of, “Do not touch her.”

Hinata darted for the crying child, his clumsy feet almost causing him to topple as he dodged his teammate's grasp. He came to a crashing halt on the ground beside her, not missing a beat before he scooped her up into his arms.

It was in that moment Hinata changed. The klutzy, brash first year was suddenly radiant, a warm grin filling his entire face as her tears immediately ceased. 

Tsukishima couldn't look away, his heart warming in spite of himself. The perpetual bull in a China cabinet had disappeared, and instead, the small ginger was calm and graceful, his exuberance as intense as ever but condensed into his molten chocolate eyes, all of its energy fixated on the whimpering child. “Hey there. What's a matter? You're okay.” 

His eyes darted to Tsukishima. “I think she's wet. Do you have any diapers?”

“Uh, yeah,” he muttered absentmindedly, still processing shift in Hinata from imbecile to baby-whisperer. “They’re by the couch.”

Hinata toted the tot to the couch with ease, expertly fishing out a diaper and wipes without a thought. Kei continued to stare, taking in the comfort with which his teammate tackled the nappy-change in a slight state of awe.

It wasn’t until an annoyed cough cut through Hinata’s quiet murmurings that the blonde remembered to blink. In the last few months, he had struggled to master identifying the cause of a cry, let alone resolving it with such speed.

“What the hell?” Kageyama grumbled, finally pulling the room out of their awkward transe.

Yamaguchi was next. “Shouyou-kun, that was amazing. Suzume never stops crying when I pick her up. How did you figure out she was wet so fast?”

Hinata blinked, his eyes darting to each person with his head cocked to the left. “I do this all the time. Why are you so surprised?”

“What do you mean all the time?” Kageyama snapped, his eyes still darting suspiciously from baby to shorty with immense speed. “Why would you change diapers all the time?”

“Natsu's only three, and she isn't fully potty trained yet.”

“Natsu?” Yamaguchi chimed in.

Hinata grinned. “My little sister. I help my mom with her every day. I’m great with kids.”

“You are a kid,” Tsukishima answered tersely, ignoring his own slightly fluttering heartbeat as he looked at his peer make another funny face, which warranted a toothless smile from the little one in his arms. “Now study or leave.”

“But-”

“Study or leave,” he repeated, his arms outstretched for the infant. “Give her here.”

Reluctantly, the ginger placed her in the blonde’s arms and returned to the table, and Kei balanced her on his legs, letting her support a little of her own own weight while he provided all elements of balance. Her entire body shook on her tiny, chubby legs, but her smile widened further. 

Shouyou’s eyes zeroed in on his teammate’s hands. The long, pale fingers were usually tensed and fierce, ready to slam down an opponent’s spike or clenched in anger as he reacted to his teammate’s shenanigans. But today, for the first time, they looked soft, gentle. If only while supporting his ‘little monster,’ the ever-present tension that characterized Tsukishima’s existence was gone. 

His eyes were so focused on Tsukishima’s hands, in fact, that he didn’t notice the burp or the spit-up until it dripped over the blonde’s fingernails and onto his black track pants. Shouyou’s eyes jerked up to see the drool-formula combination leaking from the otherwise perfectly happy baby’s mouth and, in turn, all over both Tsukishima and the meticulously kept notebook on the table.

_Oh shit._ Shouyou had seen Tsukishima’s rage directed at much lesser slights. Cautiously, his eyes darted to his fellow middle blocker’s, and a small gasp slipped through his lips. The hazel eyes always so full of contempt now matched his newly-softened touch, and the corner of his lip twitched upward slightly as he wiped his hands on his uniform pants and dabbed at the little, smiling mouth with his sleeve. Only once Suzume was clean did he turn any attention to the notebook, which was dabbed at using the opposite sleeve of his jacket. 

“Here, Tsukki.”

The soft voice broke Hinata’s trance, and he blinked rapidly as he watched Yamaguchi pass a burp cloth to his best friend. 

“Thanks.” His touch still gentle, he focused his attention back on cleaning up the little one, and Shouyou couldn’t help but stare. This side of his teammate- a side marked by tenderness and patience- was absolutely foreign, and though he didn’t understand, he knew that there was something special in the brief moment he was allowed to witness. 

It was over as soon as it had come, however, as a harsh, “Tch,” awoke Hinata from his stupor, and he found the same hazel eyes fixed on him in distaste. “If you aren’t going to study, leave. You aren’t here to help babysit.”

“It actually probably is time to go,” Yamaguchi offered softly, sensing the end Tsukki’s patience. One glance at the clock told him it was the truth; it was almost ten o’clock, and they’d been at it for two hours. “Especially if we all have exams in the morning.”

“Oh. Right,” Hinata answered softly, a hint of regret welling in his chest. Confused, he shoved it down and gave a bright grin. “Thanks for your help, Tsukishima! I’m going to ace this test in the morning.”

“Right,” came Kei’s monotonous response. “I’ll be shocked if either of you pass.”

“Hey!” the deviant duo answered in sync, and Tadashi hastily grabbed each by the arm, mumbling his goodbyes as he all but dragged the pair down the steps and out the door.

“See you tomorrow, Tsukki!”

The door closed before he could reply, and with its quiet thud, every muscle in Kei’s body relaxed. “Finally.” 

Again, he pulled the semi-standing infant to his chest, snuggling her close, his breath providing just enough wind to shift her wispy white-blonde down. The smell of lotion and baby formula tickled his nose, but he didn’t move, his face still buried against her forehead. 

He missed being home with her. The first week of summer, he’d gone to training camp with the rest of his team; the night after he returned, he got the call. Two days later, she’d set up permanent base-camp in the bassinet next to his bed, and he’d spent the entire rest of his summer getting to know her, with volleyball practice his only other commitment. But now, nearing the end of the second week of September and of classes once more, their evenings and weekends together had to be enough, and he was not keen to share that time. 

“I know Hinata’s gross, but you didn’t have to puke, you know,” he teased, shifting her until they were looking into each other’s eyes. She just smiled up at him, her eyes slightly unfocused but still tuned into his face. 

Finally, he forced himself out of the chair, prepared a bottle, and settled in the rocking chair with her nestled safely on his lap. “Alright, Suzu, you need to eat, and then we’re both going to get some sleep, alright? _You_ may have napped all day, but I am tired. You saw what idiots I had to put up with today. Any chance you’ll actually sleep for a night?”

Her golden eyes, so like his own, stared up at him as she ate, and he chuckled softly. “No, of course not. What daughter of mine would ever be intentionally agreeable?”

He continued to watch her as she sucked on her bottle, her eyes slowly drooping closed. They rocked for a few moments more before he finally shifted her to the bedroom, into her own little white bed. “Good night.”

Finally, in a heap of spit-up covered clothes and exhaustion, Kei settled into his own bed, determined to get some form of nap in before her cries woke him in the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for your responses! They meant the world (and I'm going to answer, I swear). 
> 
> I planned to post this on Sunday, but my laptop charger gave out. BUT! I'm back and ready to keep going. 
> 
> Feedback, as always, is very much appreciated.

It took a week for the first years to get their exam results, and both Hinata and Kageyama were pleasantly surprised.

“TSUKISHIMAAAAAA!” came the red-head’s cry as he barreled into the gym for afternoon practice, his raven-haired best friend at his side. Hinata’s eyes darted side to side as he searched for his intended target, finally spotting him at the opposite end of the court, water bottle in hand and sweat already dripping from his neck. “TSUKISHIMA!”

“...what?”

“I got a 61! I passed! And I beat Bakageyama! He only got a 60, but he passed too!”

“...and you’re happy about those scores?”

“We passed!”

Tsukishima’s hand slipped over his mouth, and his sarcastic chuckles began. “You’re excited about having the two lowest possible passing scores you can get on an exam.”

“Passing scores,” Hinata grinned, unphased by Tsukishima’s negativity. “This is the first time this year I passed a math test! I’m so excited, and I even beat Kageyama and- Hey, are you okay?”

Kei felt himself almost falling, his balance succumbing to the weariness of another night’s limited sleep. He caught himself and mustered up a glare for the red-head. “I’m fine.”

Hinata’s mouth opened to inquire further, but Daichi’s call paused the barrage of questions that would have otherwise come. “Alright, let’s warm up!”

_1, 2, 3, 4_

Kei bent with the rest of the team, his muscles protesting every move. He was exhausted. For his summer break, he’d been tired, but he’d managed. He’d slept when Suzume slept, and his mother helped out to let him nap some during the day, but now… At nine weeks old, she still needed to eat every three hours, which at best for Kei mean a nap from nine to eleven, another until around two, and finally his alarm going off at five thirty to signify the start to the day. 

The pair would wake up together, the alarm jolting both into a state of groggy awareness, and Suzume would cry until he held her. Then he’d change her and try to get her to eat and let her hang out in just her diaper in hopes of avoiding an outfit change that early in the day. Then he’d shower and dress himself, hoping beyond all hopes to make it out the door without spit-up on his own clothes. His mother would come in from her night at work, remind him to eat breakfast, and then go to bed, and he’d grab a granola bar from the cabinet. Finally, he’d put Suzume in a onesie, settle her into her carseat, and make the five minute walk to her daycare, usually arriving somewhere around 6:45. 

Then he’d run.

_5, 6, 7, 8_

Morning practice started at seven sharp. It was a universal truth for the Karasuno team, and between Daichi’s captaincy and Kageyama’s attitude, there was always hell to pay if you were late, which Tsukishima often was. Everyone assumed he was a late-sleeper, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. He was up damn early to make it to practice on time; his morning routine just differed greatly from everyone else’s. 

After practice, he’d fight his eyelids until lunch, striving to maintain his perfect GPA and keep consistent notes while also slowly drifting in and out of sleep. Lunch would wake him briefly, but he’d often swallow his food quickly and put his head on the table, taking advantage of those extra twenty minutes of rest. 

Yamaguchi would always poke him awake, and his afternoon would pass much like the morning, in a blur of half-awake note-taking. His mother would pick Suzume up from daycare when she woke up and would keep her until Kei hurried home from practice, scarfed down the dinner she left for him, and once again resumed his parenting duties. He would study as he could, attempting to make up for his lack of attention during class, and he would finally doze off with his daughter once she finished her eight o’clock bottle. Then the cycle would repeat.

_1, 2, 3, 4_

In the mindless stretching, Kei could feel his attention fading, his mind glossing over in a state of half-awareness. His limbs continued to stretch, his muscle memory driving his body to move in the same way he’d moved every day for months.

_5, 6, 7, 8_

He fought back a yawn, his eyes drooping, and finally, after the last, he fully stood and stretched again. This one was not the productive stretch of an athlete; it was more the cry of a just-waking body as it clawed its way back to life. 

“Okay,” Ukai called, breaking through the blonde’s mind fog. “First - receives. Hinata, you’re up!”

Tsukishima watched as his classmate miss three receives before finally finding his groove, and he snickered when he missed his last receive an additional two times. 

“Tsukishima, go!”

With a blink, he jumped forward, and the ball flew towards him immediately. He caught the first, sending it flying into the air, but the second, third, and fourth slapped against his bare forearms and soared out of bounds with impressive speed. 

“You’re not a windmill, Tsukishima. Move your feet!” 

“Hai!” 

Knees bent, he prepared for the coach’s next spike, but his mind couldn’t quite keep up with the ball’s speed, and it crashed heavily into his chest, stealing the air from his lungs and slamming him to the ground. His breath hitched in his throat, and it took a moment for his lungs to remember how to take in oxygen again.

And that moment was chaos. Tsukishima had never gone down during practice, and _everyone_ knew. Ukai was by him first, swearing. “Shit, are you okay? I didn’t mean to hit it so hard.”

“Tsukki! What happened?”

“Guys, stay back. Give him a minute.”

“You can’t receive a spike with your chest.”

“Kageyama, not now.”

But the most noticeable of the bunch was the orange bundle of energy by his side, crouching next to him and speaking unusually softly. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he choked out, still fighting to breathe at a normal rate. “I’m fine.”

At that, Hinata rose and held out a hand, and without thinking, Kei took it, allowing himself to be hoisted up by the far shorter boy. Further still, the small, pale hand in his own guided him to the edge of the bench and handed him a water bottle. “Sit,” the firm voice commanded, and he obeyed. 

“Tsukishima,” the coach called from the court. “I’m not sure what’s going on with you, but take the day to work it out.” 

“It was one mistake. I can still-”

“You did the stretches backwards,” the coach responded dryly. “Suga led them today and changed the order, and you didn’t notice.”

At that, Kei’s cheeks darkened slightly, but no one laughed. Everyone’s eyes were trained on him, expressions of concern evident in their countenances. “Yes sir.”

“Can I make sure he gets home okay?” his best friend’s voice piped up from the crowd, his eyebrows knitted together in concern.

Tsukishima froze. “That is completely unnecessary.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Ukai answered, his eyes darting between the pair. “Go. See you both in the morning. Don’t forget to stretch.”

With mumbled assent, the pair trudged out of the gym, and Kei immediately turned on the pinch server. “I can get home on my own.”

“Are you okay, Tsukki? Have you been sleeping en-”

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

“Sorry, Tsukki.”

The pair walked in silence to Tsukishima’s home, and they entered wordlessly and slipped off their shoes. “We’re home, Oka-san!” Yamaguchi called out, breaking the silence only to prevent alarming his second mother. 

“You’re early!” she called back, appearing almost instantly at the top of the stairs. “You guys normally don’t get back for at least another couple hours.”

Yamaguchi’s mouth opened, and Kei could tell he was about to explain. He shot a dangerous look at the green-haired boy, and instead answered, “Practice ended early.”

“Oh. Well, I’m glad you’re home! The station called, and they asked if I could come in a little early. I had said no, but if you’re home…”

“Go,” Kei responded firmly, climbing the steps to find his daughter sprawled out asleep on the floor, her grey fleece blanket protecting her soft skin from the rough carpeting below. “I can take over.”

Planting a kiss on his forehead, his mother grabbed her bag and was out the door in an instant, but Yamaguchi was not so easily swayed. “Tsukki… Coach sent you home to get some rest. You could have taken a nap for those two hours. I can stay and-”

“Shut _up_ , Yamaguchi,” his friend snapped, anger finally slipping out from the cracks in his neutral facade. “I’m fine.”

“Sorry, Tsukki,” Tadashi murmured softly, his worry only growing. 

Kei sighed. “Sorry. Go back to practice. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

When Yamaguchi stepped out the door, Kei sighed and leaned heavily on the wall. He was fine. He was just tired, but that was the anthem of all new parents. That he knew. He didn’t need help, and he didn’t need pity. What he did need, however, was a nap.

\----------

On the other side of the wall, Tadashi had settled on the curb. In a decade of friendship, he’d never seen Tsukki like this. Stubborn, yes. Rude, always. But never worn down, not for this long. It’d been happening for weeks, he knew. Tsukishima was an excellent student; he put the rest of the first year club members to shame. To see him nodding off in class, missing key lecture points, and occasionally failing to take notes at all was unheard of.

 _Dammit,_ Tadashi swore internally. He didn’t know how to stand up to Tsukishima, not outside of volleyball. He had no idea how to force him to accept help, and even if he did, he had no idea how to take care of Suzume long enough to let his best friend sleep without asking a barrage of questions. 

Suddenly, the quietest of realizations dawned on him, and he pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts to find the perfect solution.

As the phone rang, Tadashi knew this would be a fight later, but he didn’t really care. Tsukki had been angry with him before; he would be angry with him again. This would pass.

“Hello?”

_Sorry, Tsukki._

“Hey, Hinata? It’s Yamaguchi. Are you busy tonight?”

\----------

Hinata’s knuckles rapped against the door energetically, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder and his backpack saddled on his back. When no answer came within a minute, he knocked again, a little more firmly.

When a glasses-less Tsukishima answered the door, crying child in hand, Hinata realized that his force may not have been as welcome as he’d hoped. “Go away.”

Then the door was closed again.

“Tsukishima, open the door!” the ginger yelled, his knuckles pounding against the oak-stained wood. “I’m not leaving!”

After several minutes of general racket, the same bleary-eyed blonde opened the door, this time holding a bottle of formula while supporting her in his arms. “What do you want, Hinata?”

“I’m here to babysit!” the orange-haired boy exclaimed, grinning. “Yamaguchi called me.”

 _Damn._ Tsukishima’s expression darkened, shifting from exhaustion to pure annoyance. “Unnecessary. Now if you’ll excuse me, we-”

“When’s the last time you actually through the night?”

“I- What?”

“When’s the last time you slept through the night?”

Tsukishima froze. Over the summer, his mother- and even his father when he was home- had kept an eye on Suzume some during the day to let him sleep, but after school began, his options had been limited. With practice nightly and on Saturdays and coursework to keep up with, Kei had begun to live on naps. 

When she wasn’t at work, his mother always offered to help, but he always refused. Over summer, when he was lost and panicked, he’d gladly taken the help, but he knew that no part of this situation was his mother’s responsibility. He’d made the decisions he did; he’d decided to keep his child without a mother; and he wouldn’t put her out any more than he had to. If he was home, he would handle it. 

He thought through the calendar since Suzu came into his life; on the Sunday before break ended, his mother had insisted on staying home with the pair, citing the need for good impressions on his first day of term. He’d slept for ten hours that night, but he hadn’t had a night like it since. 

“Three and a half weeks.”

At that, Hinata’s jaw dropped. “Three and a half _weeks_? That’s like- That’s almost an entire month.”

“Right.” He moved to close the door again, to distance himself from the painfully loud presence just outside, but the little crow’s reflexes were too quick. The pale hand jammed itself in the entrance, stopping the door inches before it closed. His eyes snapped up to find that same, molten intensity lurking in the shorter boy’s eyes. 

Kei’s eyes widened, and his lips parted slightly, but he didn’t know what to say when met with the fervent, chocolate gaze. He didn’t have to speak, however, for Hinata cut in. “You watch Suzume every night, right? When my mom went back to work after she had Natsu, I helped watch her too. It was months before I slept through the night, even when I wasn’t getting up to help. The crying was just so loud. My mom use to make me sleep at one of our neighbors’ once a week because I was tired and in a bad mood all the time.

“You’re always in a bad mood anyway, but at least if you sleep, you might not land flat on your back in practice anymore.”

A long-suffering sigh was the only reply he received, but Tsukishima turned around, leaving the wooden door ajar as he pattered up the steps in his socks, Hinata trailing victoriously behind him.

\----------

“Hand her over and go to bed.”

The pair had gone over everything: where bottles were, how much and how often she ate, where to find clean clothes in her never-used nursery; and even basics of medication and first aid in case anything happened. It had been mostly painless, with only one worrisome barb from Hinata - _Calm down, Tsukishima. You’re acting more like a worried parent than a brother. I’ve done this before._ But he’d evaded, as he always did.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Arms out and hands ready, the ginger rolled his eyes. “Tsukishima, you already agreed to let me watch her. Just give me the baby!”

Finally, Kei couldn’t argue anymore. He gently placed the sleeping infant in his teammate’s arms and watched Hinata’s face morph into the same, tender expression he’d seen the week prior, and the same erratic heartbeat began to thrum in his chest. His hands hesitated as he pulled away, and Hinata’s fingers gently brushed them off. “Look, I know we’re not exactly friends, but… You’re my teammate, and I want to help. I’ll take good care of her, I promise. Just go get some sleep, and she’ll be ready for you in the morning.” 

Reluctantly, the blonde wandered to his room, his fingers tingling from the smaller boy’s touch. Kei’s stomach squirmed uncomfortably as he thought about the combined sensations, but he ignored it and flopped down on his unmade bed, grabbing his headphones from his nightstand and cranking up his music until it drowned out his racing heart. His eyes closed before he could stop them, even his music faded away and he was engulfed in a deep, unyielding sleep.

\---------

Sun shining through the windows is what finally roused Tsukishima the next morning, his headphones still on and blaring from when he’d dozed off. He’d slept through the night - through every cry, every feeding, and every potential issue that might have arisen.

With a jolt, he glanced at his phone, his body already moving forward as he saw the time: 6:02. He was running late.

Still pajama-clad, he slipped on his glasses and rushed to the living room, fully prepared to find a sleeping Hinata and Suzume, behind on feeding and slated to be very late for practice. Instead, however, he found a sleepy-eyed Hinata already dressed and covered in a burp rag with a fully dressed Suzume cradled in his arms, eyes wide open and a bottle halfway finished. “Oh.”

“Good morning!” his teammate half-shouted, a grin lighting up his features. “Sleep well?”

Kei only hummed in response, but he stepped forward and held his arms out for his daughter, whom Hinata placed in his arms without hesitation. Though he tried to hide it, every tensed muscle he didn’t know he had relaxed slightly, and he had to fight off the small smile that curled on the corners of his lips. 

Hinata’s eyes widened as he watched the taller blocker soften, and briefly, he felt he was intruding on a private moment as he watched the long fingers stroke the infant’s cheek and brush through her wispy blond hair. He’d never seen an honest smile on his teammate’s face, but the gentle curvature of his lips conveyed only contentment. For once, he truly looked happy, and as much as Shouyou hated to admit it, it was endearing as hell.

“I take back what I said,” Hinata said softly, offering a smile even as Tsukishima’s guards went back up. “You’re really good with her.”

Another quiet hum was the only response he received, but Tsukishima’s posture didn’t change as he continued to feed his little girl. Only when his phone chimed in his pocket, signifying the ten minute warning before they had to be out the door. “Shit.”

“Give her here,” Hinata answered immediately, his arms out. “I can get her in her carseat; you go get dressed.”

With a nod, Kei forfeited her again, jogged to his bedroom, and re-emerged fully clothed. “Let’s go.”

As they walked out the door, Hinata’s voice broke the silence. “I was thinking last night. What if I did this every week? But in exchange, before you went to bed, you tutored me. Suzume’s really cute, and I would probably pass more tests, and then it’d be better for the team, and-”

“Okay.” Kei needed the sleep, Hinata needed the lessons, and though he wouldn’t admit it, the warm sensation that swelled in Kei’s chest watching Hinata with Suzume was something he didn’t hate.

Shouyou’s eyes widened, and he glanced hopefully up at the other teen. “Okay? Really?”

“Shut up, Hinata.”

“Not a chance!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day, I will get this out on a Sunday. Really.
> 
> I have a good excuse this time, though. Started getting sick Friday night, spent four hours at urgent care on Sunday and passed out for the first time in my life. So... Then I just slept. A lot. And I didn't get back up to post this (even though it was done!!).
> 
> As always, your comments, kudos, and bookmarks mean the world. :)

Kei’s phone buzzed in his hand, and his lips turned down slightly. Yamaguchi practiced with Shimada-san on Monday evenings, and no one else texted him. He’d been careful in refusing to respond to any off-hand comment from his teammates, and finally, he had managed to dissuade them from messaging at all. Until now, apparently, as the ginger middle blocker’s name flashed across his screen.

_8:03 p.m. Hinata Shouyou  
i wish i was babysitting suzume_

WIth another buzz, a second message appeared below the first, and a small smirk formed on Kei’s lips.

_8:04 p.m. Hinata Shouyou  
at least she cant talk back yet_

Kei’s thumbs hovered over the keys, already mid-response before he realized that this was abnormal. He had spent months working to prevent exactly this; months of ignoring whimsical texts of “tsukishima these headphones look like owls. OWLS,” and, “kuroo told kenma to tell me to tell you that he says hi.” For months, he’d been blessed with cellular silence, and with one text, he would open the floodgates. It would be horrible, except for that... maybe it wouldn’t.

 _8:06 p.m. Sent  
What happened?  
_  
The response was immediate.  
  
_08:07 p.m. Hinata Shouyou (10)_  
 _im watching natsu_

_and everything was fine but i guess she hates baths now?_

_but like, i didn’t know that until after i let her help make brownies today and theres batter in her hair and on her feet and everywhere else_

_so i try to get her into the tub and she starts kicking and screaming and telling me that sharks live in water so if sharks are in water she isnt ever getting in water again and she doesnt mind having brownies in her hair because it smells good so she doesnt need to take a bath anyway and can she have a cupcake_

_she loves baths… or at least she did yesterday? and why tf would we have cupcakes if we just made brownies?_

_so i have no idea what’s going on but shes supposed to be in bed in like twenty minutes and shes currently standing on the toilet screaming that im the worst and that she should feed me to the sharks_

_and im like but im not feeding u to the sharks, im trying to help you get clean for when you go see kominato-san tomorrow_

_and do you know what she yells back? being clean is uncool sho, do you want me to be uncool like you?_

_like wtf_

_babies are way easier  
_  
Kei laughed. He didn’t snicker or chuckle or mock; he _laughed_ , loudly and uncontrollably and in a way that he hadn’t laughed in years. He could picture it vividly - a miniature Hinata, covered head to toe in chocolate, screaming about baths; his grown Hinata ready to pull his hair out, unable to stoop to his usual shouting retorts because rather than Kageyama, his opponent was two feet tall and cried easily. Hinata Shouyou had met his match, and Kei could not possibly be more delighted to learn that it was a three-year-old.

 _8:10 p.m. Sent_  
She’s right, you know? You should never ask anyone to be as uncool as you.  
  
When no response came, Kei returned to his English homework, his eyes darting frequently to the infant enjoying her tummy time and slowly learning to reach for the smattering of toys spread around her. The blonde smiled in spite of himself, this one quiet and gentle, and he allowed a small sigh to split his lips before his eyes turned back to the reading assignment in front of him; for as studious as he had always been, his patience for verb conjugation and preposition selection was dwindling when his infant was awake and alert and his friend - teammate? babysitter? - was locked in a fierce battle of wills with a toddler.

It was almost an hour before another text came.  
  
_09:28 p.m. Hinata Shouyou_  
 _shes finally asleep. also - rude! im awesome_

_09:31 p.m. Sent  
Uh-huh. Sure._

_Aren’t kids supposed to think their older siblings are superheroes? You can’t even convince yours that you don’t want to feed her to the sharks._

_09:32 p.m. Hinata Shouyou (4)  
meanishima!!_

_she likes me most of the time_

_my mom says shes just trying to test boundaries_

_and that i was worse at that age so i can’t complain_  
  
Kei snorted, shaking his head, and he snapped his literature book closed, glancing at the clock in the corner of his screen. He still had around an hour before Suzu would be ready for a bottle, but he’d shoved as many English prepositions into his mind as his weary brain could take. Instead, he slumped back against the couch cushions, his shoulders and forearms aching pleasantly from the efforts of that day’s practice.

Finally, he glanced back down at the messages, the corner of his lip quirking upward; he could try to nap for an hour, possibly, or -  
  
_09:38 p.m. Sent_  
 _You’re still worse._

_09:39 Hinata Shouyou (4)  
RUDE!!!!!_

_ur the worst_

_shit_

_she woke up brb_  
  
As if in tune with Hinata’s plight, his own little human started to fuss, tiny fists pounding against the carpeted floor as she flailed about, red-faced. Upon scooping her up, he was immediately aware of the problem, specifically clued in by the putrid odor surrounding his daughter. Kei groaned.

“You couldn’t do this for grandma?”

Still, he changed her immediately, swallowing down his gag reflex as he discovered that the mess had… _leaked_. A lot.

It was almost an hour before he made it back to his phone - just enough time to give Suzume a full bath, dress her, immediately undress her to change a wet diaper, change himself out of a pair of sweats he was all but certain sported debris from their fecal frenzy of an evening, and finally mix together a bottle of formula when her fussing began again. Exhausted, he flopped into the rocker, his gaze darting to the blinking green light on his phone, but his hands staying firmly wrapped around his daughter and her meal. Hinata could wait.

Instead, he stared down at the little form nestled in his arms, and he finally let himself relax. Suzume was kind of gross. She was often sticky and smelly and oozed many, many different liquids from varying parts of her body, and she was everything Kei had been certain he didn’t want. He liked structure, personal space, _quiet_ \- everything he had given up the moment he’d said, “Fine. Give her to me.”

It had been harder than he’d expected; he never expected being a parent to be _easy_ , but his mom made it look effortless. It wasn’t until he’d brought home this tiny, screaming baby and he’d looked completely lost that she’d told him how hard it had been, how many nights she’d laid awake thinking of Kei and Akiteru and hoping that she and their father were doing right by them with his crazy work schedule, how little she’d known the first time she carried Akiteru through that front door.

Kei hadn’t cried in years; after finding Akiteru’s secret, he’d sobbed his little, grade-schooler heart out, but he then swore he wouldn’t cry over anything so pathetic again. But when he’d finally gotten Suzume to sleep for the first time after she’d cried and cried for what felt like eternity, he _wept_ \- terrified, awed, in love tears - and he knew that the sticky, smelly, far too oozey little mess he’d brought home was _everything_ he could ever want.

But he was still terrified. Kei was self-aware enough to know his shortcomings. He was mean, closed-off, _terrible_ at handling emotions. His favorite pastimes included pushing buttons, making fun of people’s bad decisions, and pretending he didn’t care. He was everything that could mess up another human being, but someone in the universe had entrusted him with one anyway.

And he _wanted_. Kei had never wanted to stay in the small, podunk town he’d grown up in. He didn’t want to settle for community college and a dead-end job in a dying town. He wanted to play volleyball and move to Tokyo and study at a top university; he struggled to admit it to himself, this list of ambitions that had been growing in his mind over the years. He never voiced it, never even put it into words even within his thoughts, but he knew it was there, and he had no idea how much of it he’d given up.

His eyes refocused, and his gaze locked onto the tiny hand wrapped around his pinkie and the half-lidded eyes fighting to stay awake as she finished her bottle, slurping noises that once would have disgusted him instead making Kei smile wider.

He would give anything up for her, any day.

 

\----------

Kei jerked awake to the sound of crying, much closer than usual, and he opened his eyes to find himself still in the armchair, Suzume still burrowed in his arms, and he groaned softly. He hadn’t meant to doze off, especially still holding her and _especially_ in the rocking chair where rolling off his lap was too possible for comfort. “Sorry Suzu. Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”

He made the bottle in a daze, measuring out water and formula like clockwork, his motions unchanging in the last few weeks. Part of him dreaded the day she took more formula in a feeding; he was sure that for several bottles that week, he would have to make more, having auto-piloted through the preparation. But for tonight, auto-pilot was just fine - perfect, in fact.

They settled back in the chair, and Suzume began slurping down the bottle fervently, almost as if she’d had nothing to eat hours before. Her appetite amazed Kei sometimes; it mirrored her mother’s in every way. He’d always eaten like a bird; his mother said they’d almost put him on a special formula as a baby because even then, he just wasn’t hungry.

Kei was half asleep as she finished her bottle, and he sluggishly changed her before placing her in her bassinet and collapsing in his own bed. It wasn’t until he went to set his alarm that he remembered Hinata’s texts, and he was suddenly more awake as he saw twenty missed messages.  
  
_11:45 p.m. Hinata Shouyou (14)_  
 _uggggggggghhhhh_...

_why is it always when my moms at work?_

_theyre learning about families at daycare_

_and she woke up from a nightmare about sharks - i think our neighbor let her watch a Jaws on accident - and she was crying, and then she says - thank you daddy_

_and i have to be the one to explain to the three-year-old that i’m her brother_

_so then shes like - ok but wheres dad_

_like how tf do you tell a three year old that he left one day and decided not to come back_

_trick question you dont_

_so you try to tell her that all families are different and some have a mom and a dad and others two moms or have two dads and some only have one parent and thats ok too_

_so then she’s like ok - but why dont i have a dad_

_and im like what if we have brownies and chocolate milk and dont tell mom_

_and then we did and she went to sleep_

_so i guess i win?_

_see? babies are WAAAAY easier_

_12:19 a.m. Hinata Shouyou (4)  
aaaaaand... shes sleeping in my bed_

_so theres that_

_i told you she likes me_

_just not as much as she hates sharks_

_12:38 a.m. Hinata Shouyou (2)  
im going to sleep_

_good night meanishima_  
  
Sleep was almost immediately forgotten as Kei struggled to unpack all of the information he’d received in that twenty message diatribe, and he pulled it apart piece by piece:

Even at three, kids know when they’re missing a parent.

Suzume was one day going to ask those questions.

Kei was not ready to answer those questions.

Hinata’s dad left.

Hinata remembered his dad leaving, but Natsu didn’t; it had to have happened two to four years ago, after Natsu was conceived but before she was old enough to remember anything.

Hinata’s neighbor helped babysit.

Hinata’s neighbor was either too old to know that Jaws wasn’t a documentary or was horribly irresponsible to let a three-year-old watch it.

Hinata was okay with same-sex and single parent families.

And, perhaps most of all, there was a lot more to Hinata Shouyou than the volleyball idiot Kei had always seen.

But that didn’t stop him from being a volleyball idiot.

 _02:26 a.m. Sent_  
_Good night, Hinata._

 

\----------

The next morning, Kei was late for practice. _Very_ late. The runny diaper from the night before was apparently a preview of what the morning was to bring, and by the time he’d given Suzume her second bath in twelve hours and had showered himself after making some… Unfortunate contact with some of Suzume’s diaper, he was twenty minutes behind and stood little chance of making it up.

He almost didn’t go at all, his stomach tied in knots as he took her temperature for the third time, certain that her stomach being so upset had to be the sign of a well-masked illness. She seemed fine, just kicking her feet and looking around with bright eyes, but he worried all the same - something must have been wrong for this to have happened twice.

It was not until his mother intervened, laughing fondly at his hovering, that he finally walked out the door, carrier in hand.

As he left the daycare, his phone buzzed, and he glanced down to see Yamaguchi’s name flash across the screen; a hint of disappointment bubbled in his stomach, and he ignored it, instead opening the message.

_07:12 a.m. Yamaguchi  
Hey. You ok?_

_07:12 a.m. Sent  
Shitty morning. Literally. I’m on my way._

 

\----------

Practice was nearly over by the time Kei arrived, out of breath but there. With a worried glance, Suga told him to stretch, since there wouldn’t be time for him to make it on the court. He had no choice but to comply.

Instead, as he went through the usual routine, he watched the game unfold before him: Kageyama’s annoyingly perfect sets; Hinata’s absurd ability to arrive at the right place at the right time; Noya’s third, “Rolling Thunder,” in the ten minutes he’d been there; Hinata’s grin at his open palm once he landed a perfect spike; Hinata’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration as Asahi served; Hinata’s -

Kei blinked hard and fast, forcing the thoughts away as quickly as they had come. His eyes immediately fell back on the other middle blocker anyway, this time calculating. Hinata didn’t seem tired at all, in spite of having slept almost as little as Kei the night before. His movements were sharp, his eyes bright and alert, his grin as wide as ever. Briefly, Kei wondered how many nights like the last Hinata had lived through, how many restless sleeps he’d had to take with a toddler curled up in his bed waiting for her mom to get home.

Bubbles of guilt began to churn in Kei’s stomach as he thought about how many times he’d lectured him for sleeping in class, for struggling to focus. In the last few weeks, Kei had become intimately familiar with that sensation, and suddenly, he felt a lot closer to Hinata than he ever had.

Wednesdays might not be so bad after all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god. I'm back! I've returned. I absolutely cannot promise consistent updates at this point (I'm about 75% of the way through a currently 17k word KuroTsuk fic that took my attention away, though I haven't posted it. If anyone's interested in giving me some feedback on what I have so far, though, let me know. That'd be rad), but I have managed to finally wrap up this mess of a chapter.
> 
> Thank you all SO much for all of the likes, kudos, and comments. Random pop ups through the last few months were so encouraging, and they always reminded me that there are people out there who are looking forward to an update, and it was definitely a motivating factor.
> 
> One thing's been getting to me, so I am going to put the disclaimer here. PLEASE NOTE: I am in no way encouraging or meaning to glorify teen pregnancy. This was written as a cute fluff fic, and it in no way, shape, or form represents the difficulties of actual parenthood. 
> 
> Otherwise, here we go! As always, your feedback means the world, and I'm happy to present the backstory everyone's been asking for. :D

“Why are you so good at this?”

Kei scoffed. “I actually pay attention in class.”

 

They’d fallen into a routine over the last four weeks. Hinata brought an overnight bag to school every Wednesday night; the pair made the trek to the Tsukishima house with or without the other two first years; Kei’s mom fawned over how great it was that Hinata came over to study and help with Suzu; she left; they heated up dinner, and Kei focused on his little one while Hinata tried to do some of his work on his own; finally, Hinata surrendered and Kei, more patient than he’d ever been, began explaining the literature reading their classes had been focused on, intermittently interrupted by crying or adorable babbling or by little feet pounding against the table as Kei held her and attempted to teach. 

 

Tonight had been rough for the pair. Suzume was  _ growing _ \- three hours had stretched to four and a half hours of sleep at night, and she was awake and alert and  _ understanding _ . Frequent fussing and quiet babbling from across the room continuously pulled both boys’ attention and pulled Kei from teaching to comfort her. Even now, as she played with her toes on the floor, Kei ached to go talk to her and try, yet again, to convince her that the stuffed triceratops he’d purchased months before her birth was a much cooler toy than the velveteen rabbit his mom had purchased in the hospital gift shop the day they’d brought her home.

 

“I try,” Hinata whined, thunking his forehead down on the textbook in front of him and effectively dragging Kei from his thoughts. “Nobody cares about Shakespeare, though. How am I supposed to pay attention when the words don’t even  _ mean _ anything?”

 

Kei didn’t even try to stop his eyes from rolling. “Every word means something, idiot.”

 

“Oh yeah?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Hinata’s hazel eyes bore into Kei’s own, and a lightning-quick finger pointed to a random excerpt on the page. “Fine, what’s that mean, then?”

 

Kei’s eyes scanned the page, worrying his bottom lip as he skimmed the passage, a faint pink creeping up his cheeks - 

 

> _ “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, _
> 
> _ My love as deep; the more I give to thee, _
> 
> _ The more I have, for both are infinite.”  _

 

“It means you clearly need to study more.”

 

“SEE?! You don’t know either.” Hinata beamed, victorious, and Kei didn’t bother to argue.  _ With you, I have everything; my love for you is never ending, and the more I give it, the more it grows.  _ No, he wouldn’t translate that for Hinata; he wouldn’t even hint towards it.

 

Kei wasn’t stupid; he’d figured out his body’s signs - his quickened heartbeat when Hinata congratulated him on the court; the bubbling warmth in his stomach when he caught a flash of pumpkin orange impossibly fall into step with him, despite their height differences; the tightness in his chest as he watched him play with his daughter as if it were the most natural thing in the world. 

 

He liked Hinata, and he had exactly zero plans to do anything about it. 

 

“I’m going to bed.”

 

He could physically  _ feel _ Hinata pout behind him and was thus entirely unsurprised by the whine the little ginger unleashed. “But it’s not even eight o’clock yet.”

 

“And?”

 

“You don’t usually go to bed until ten,” Hinata argued, defensive without cause as he so often was. 

 

Kei shrugged, his lips twitching into a small smirk. “Like I said, and? You have less homework than usual.”

 

“Right, but I thought…” Hinata steeled himself, righting his slumped shoulders and leveling Tsukishima with the fiery gaze usually saved for Shiratorizawa and the Great King. “We should hang out.”

 

Hinata’s bright red face clashed painfully with his hair, and Tsukishima snorted, turning away to hide the faint pink on his own cheeks. Without a word, he stalked down the hallway, ignoring Hinata’s semi-disguised murmurs of, “ _ Gah! Why are you so mean?!”  _ and,  _ “Stupid Meanishima!” _

 

It was not until he reemerged moments later, pajama-clad and sporting a book and a box set of DVDs that he’s given the opportunity to quick his eyebrows and offer a sarcastic grin. “It’s rude to call people names, especially in their own home, you know.”

 

“It’s just as rude to walk away in the middle of a conversation!”

 

“You remember that? Based on your vocab quiz scores, I didn’t think you could retain anything for more than fifteen seconds.”

 

A shout of protest almost echoed in the living room, sharp and loud, but it was nothing compared to the startled, tired wails that immediately followed. Kei’s eyes darted from his daughter to the menace on the couch, leveling him with a glare as Hinata moved towards her. 

 

“I’ve got her.” Kei’s voice was almost a growl as sheer annoyance permeated his expression. “You’ve scared her enough.”

 

Kei scooped her up from the floor without much thought, immediately whispering soft, soothing nothings just above her head. In more ways than not, she was inherently like her father: relatively low energy, but fixed in her routine; generally wary to engage, but stubborn to a fault once involved; and acutely aware of her surroundings, but painfully resistant to change - especially in volume level. 

 

Even in the first days he’d brought her home, loud noises were the enemy. A cabinet closing too sharply, a bottle dropped on the hardwood floor (a far too common occurrence for the newly sleep-deprived teen), or even a well-meaning knock on the door at the wrong moment would lead to terrified tears. She’d settled down immensely from that, of course, as she became more accustomed to the daily sounds of the outdoors, her daycare, and most of all, the Tsukishima household. 

 

“You’re okay,” he crooned, swaying side to side as he glared daggers at Hinata before finally turning his back on his guilty-looking classmate and focusing his gaze on the red-faced, snotty mess in his arms. “You’re  _ okay _ , Suzu. I’ve got you. Daddy’s got you. I won’t let anything hurt you, I promise. What monster is afraid of a little runt like that, hm?”

 

He continued to rock side to side, his hand patting her diaper in time to the twisting of his torso until her wailing turned to whimpers and her whimpers eventually petered out entirely in favor of squirming about and burying her face in his t-shirt. “There we go.”

 

Finally, he turned back to Hinata, fully prepared to lay into him for screaming only feet away from an already-cranky infant, but his mind went blank the moment he turned around and found wide, hazel eyes staring back at him. “What?”

 

“D-did you say-” Hinata spluttered, his gaze never wavering from Tsukishima’s. “Is Suzume  _ your _ daughter? You said, ‘Daddy’s got you,’ and you said, ‘I’ve got you,’ and you just taught me about the substitution property of equality in algebra and if a plus b equals c plus b then a must equal c and so if, ‘Daddy’s got you,’ equals, ‘I’ve got you,’ then daddy equals you, which means that you’re her dad and that she’s your- GWAH!”

 

“Stop talking,” Kei commanded flatly, settling cross-legged on the floor and placing her back on the blanket. He rattled her plush rabbit in front of her face, gently booping her on the nose with it an eliciting a gummy smile. 

 

“Usagi’s going to get your nose,” he murmured, a small smile on his own lips. He still wasn’t the most comfortable with talking to her about their daily routines, but he’d read enough parenting books and webpages to know that he needed to learn. It was his job to provide the language she was to acquire; she needed to learn from him, to one day mimic the sounds that would give way to words, and most of all, to know and trust his voice as a source of comfort and safety. 

 

He pressed the velveteen creature to the side of her face, and her head turned automatically with clumsy fingers pushing a cloth ear into her open mouth. “You’re not supposed to eat her,” chastised playfully, though he only twisted the toy gently against her cheek. “Though maybe if you did, you’d finally realize that Sara the Triceratops is by far the better toy.”

 

“Tsukishima-”

 

“Yes.” He cut Hinata off. “She’s mine.”

 

Wide eyes met his own, and Tsukishima glanced away as quickly as he’d looked. “But how? And when? When did you- You had-”

 

“I don’t believe that’s any of your business.”

 

Kei turned back to Suzu, forcing a smile on his face as he checked her diaper. Wet. He moved to grab a diaper but found a hand already offering him one as Hinata settled on the floor beside him. “I’m not judging you or anything,” he said, his voice unusually soft. “My mom had me when she was sixteen and my dad walked out right after my sister was born. It’s not like my family doesn’t have issues. But I’d really like to hear your story if you’ll tell me.”

 

“There’s not much to tell,” Kei answered flatly. “A friend of mine in middle school and I were both trying to figure some things out, she convinced me sex was the best answer. She was getting over strep, and neither of us knew that antibiotics negated the effects of the pill. Thirty-six weeks later, Suzume was born.”

 

That was, overall, the truth. He, Tadashi, and Hana had all been close friends; they were the only other teens in the world Kei would tolerate. Hana felt left behind, citing that  _ all of the other girls will have had sex by the time we start high school, Tsukki, and I will not be the only one who hasn’t. Besides, isn’t sex with a girl the best way to see if you could be straight or bi? That way maybe you don’t have to come out as gay to your dad. _

 

Tadashi had tried to talk them out of it, of course, and he’d been right. Not only had Kei had to come out to his parents, but he’d also had to explain a teen pregnancy.  _ Hana wants to keep it, mom, but that’s really stupid, right? _

 

Yet she’d stuck to her guns, swearing she’d talked to her parents, and they’d begun a nursery in Tsukishima’s house, with Hana asking to stay with them after the birth, as her parents were less than likely to be supportive.

 

“Where’s her mom now?”

 

Kei sighed, “I have no idea.”

 

Her parents were never around, as absent as Kei’s own father, and it had made hiding the pregnancy easy. Too easy, in fact, in that it didn’t surface at all until they were called to the hospital at her admission into the Labor and Delivery wing at only thirty-six weeks pregnant. As expected, they were distraught, but even less expected was Hana’s response.

 

_ We won’t pay for you to go to high school, _ her parents had warned,  _ and you wouldn’t be moving out. You would get a job, pay for daycare, and live life as the adult you decided to be. Otherwise, you have one option. Give her up, and grow into the daughter we raised you to be. We’ll move. Get you away from here, let you start over.  _

 

She’d said okay, and Kei had been given the paperwork to give up his custody. Every logical part of him said to sign them immediately, to leave the situation he’d wanted to avoid the entire time. 

 

But instead, he held her, her too-small fingers wrapped around his pinky instinctively and her crying seeming soothed by his voice in what he could only assume to be the response to weeks of talking to and around Hana’s ever-growing belly. She was  _ his. _ And so, when she said again that she couldn’t do this, he’d just said,  _ fine, give her to me. _

 

There were days he regretted it; days that he was tired and angry and she just wouldn’t stop crying, and he just wanted to sleep, but he knew that if he could go back, he’d say the same thing time and time again.

 

Absentmindedly, he pulled Suzume back into his arms, balancing her against his left shoulder and pressing an embarrassingly emotional face to the top of her head.

 

“You should talk to my mom,” Hinata said suddenly, pulling him back from his thoughts. “She gets it, and it might help to have someone that’s been through this?”

 

Kei hummed, pulling himself to his feet and nudging the DVD case from earlier towards Hinata. “Turn on Boku no Hero Academia,” he ordered, settling himself into the rocking chair with a baby blanket and his now content little one. “I’ll stay out here until ten.”

 

A bright, beaming grin filled Hinata’s features, and Kei allowed himself a small smile of his own. That conversation, however short, had been harder than he’d expected, but it was the first time he’d told anyone about her that didn’t already know, and in yet another surprising twist of the Hinata saga, it had gone better than he could ever have imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for taking the time to read! I hope you enjoyed. <3


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